Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Page 86

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LE NORD
the two States. The Act of Union contains however the following
provision:
»Danish subjects in Iceland shall in every respect enjoy equal
rights with Icelandic-born Icelandic subjects and vice versa.
»The subjects of each country shall be exempt from compul-
sory military service in the other country.
»The sea territories of both States shall be equally open for
fishing to both Danish and Icelandic subjects, regardless of
domicile.
»Danish ships shall have the same rights in Iceland as Ice-
landic ships, and vice versa.
»In no respect shall Danish and Icelandic products and manu-
factures mutually receive a less favourable treatment than those
of any other country.«
These provisions ensure to the subjects of the two States mu-
tually much more far-reaching rights than is usual in ordinary
treaties of friendship between States. But they do not involve any
surrender of sovereign rights on the part of either Denmark or
Iceland.
2: Under Section 7 of the Act of Union Denmark is charged
with the safeguarding of Icelandic foreign affairs on behalf of
Iceland. This provision is, however, subject to some reservations:
in the first place the Icelandic government may, if it so desires,
and if it defrays the necessary expenses, appoint attachés con-
versant with Icelandic affairs at Danish legations and consulates,
and in the second place it may, on the same conditions, send out
delegates to conduct negotiations about specifically Icelandic af-
fairs, after consultation with the Danish Minister for Foreign Af-
fairs. Since the Act was passed, Iceland has made use of these pro-
visions to appoint Icelanders as attachés at Danish legations, and
to send out delegates to negotiate with other States. Thus Iceland
has during recent years concluded trade agreements with several
States as the result of negotiations carried on by Icelandic dele-
gates.
The gist of the above-mentioned provisions (which, it may
be added, are terminable after a certain period — see below) is
that Iceland empowers the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
with the above reservations, to look after the foreign affairs of
Iceland, and that the Ministry accepts this charge. In practice,
this means that when Iceland approaches a foreign State, or vice
versa, the usual channel is through the Danish Ministry for For-